"There's not a lot written about Iran other than scary news," said author Sara Farizan, during a lively panel discussion called "The Journey of a Young Adult Book--From Writer to Reader," at BookExpo America last week. "It's not such a scary place. People there are just living their lives."
Her debut novel, If You Could Be Mine, is the story of two young Iranian women who fall in love in Tehran, and will be published by Algonquin Young Readers this August. The panel, which was moderated by Shelf Awareness children's editor Jennifer M. Brown and also featured Elise Howard and Eileen Lawrence, both of Algonquin Young Readers, convened to recount the journey of Farizan's book from MFA thesis to forthcoming novel.
"I'm super gay, so that was the first inclination," Farizan replied, when asked about her inspiration for writing If You Could Be Mine. "I've been writing a lot of my own teenage experience, and about how my culture sort of combats my super gayness. I tried to answer the question, what if my parents never left Iran, what would my life be like?"
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| L.-r: moderator Jennifer M. Brown, Elise Howard, Sara Farizan and Eileen Lawrence. | |
Farizan, who traveled to Tehran to do research for the novel, described Iran as something of a country of paradoxes, but stressed that she does not want to be considered an expert on anything Iranian. "I don't want to seem like the be-all, end-all on this subject matter, but hopefully this book leads to similar subject matter getting representation.
"I don't know if I'll be able to go [back to Iran] again now," Farizan said, commenting on her worries about the broader reaction to the book. "Even though it's a country I have very strong ties to, I can't impose my beliefs."
If You Could Be Mine arrived at Algonquin Young Readers by way of the writer Chris Lynch, who Farizan described as her "Obi-Wan Kenobi." Lynch teaches creative writing in Lesley University's MFA program, and has known Elise Howard, editor and publisher at AYR, for approximately a decade. Howard related that when Lynch told her about a promising student manuscript, she was initially very skeptical. She explained: "But [Lynch] said, if I could send you only one student manuscript, ever, this would be it."
Howard said, it was "love at first read," and mentioned that Farizan had offered her a kidney out of gratitude. For her part, Farizan described her experience as a "crazy ride," during which she's felt like "a plus-sized Cinderella."
Eileen Lawrence, director of marketing at Algonquin Young Readers, stepped in when the conversation turned to bringing If You Could Be Mine to market. Lawrence mentioned that the story's plethora of relevant themes--from the inside look at Iranian culture, to the struggle for marriage equality and civil rights for LGBTQ people--make the story resonate with many readers for many different reasons.
When asked about the challenges of introducing a new author to a YA market that has exploded in popularity over the last few years, Lawrence stressed that the most important thing is still publishing books that you believe in. "It comes down to having support from your house. And the book has to deliver at the end of the day.... You're never going to see us say that we have a $500,000 marketing campaign."
"We're in it together for the long haul," agreed Howard. "The important thing is communicating the passion we have for our books." --Alex Mutter